The story of the Lost Lemon Mine has, with great
justification, been called „the great mystery of the
Canadian Rockies”. As the story has been around for well
over a century there are, by now, many versions of “the
truth” but all begin in 1870 at Tobacco Plains, Montana
and end not far from Calgary.

A party of prospectors made their way from the
outpost in Montana to the Highwood Range. Two men from
the group, Frank Lemon and his partner, a man known as
“Blackjack”, set out on a route of their own. As they
made their way along the course to the Highwood River,
the pair was gratified to notice showings-outcroppings
that indicated veins of gold below the surface of the
ground that they were traversing.

Not wanting to share their find with anyone else from
the original party, Lemon and Blackjack scrambled to
gather as many pieces of gold ore as they could. They
knew they would need these samples in order to attract
someone to bankroll a potential mining operation. Once
they had collected a sufficient number of ore samples,
the pair set up camp for the night. They planned to
begin heading back to Montana early the next morning.

Several variations of the tale exist to explain what
might have happened next. Some say Blackjack and Lemon
got into an argument that eventually escalated into a
physical fight. Others say that the two were on the best
of terms when they turned in for the night. What is
known for a fact, however, is that by sunrise Blackjack
was dead – murdered by his former friend and partner,
Frank Lemon. As for Lemon, overnight, he had gone stark
raving mad.

According to this version of the story, the now badly
deranged Lemon left the body of his former friend where
it lay and headed, as best he was able, back to Tobacco
Plains. When he got there he immediately
sought counsel from the local priest and confessed his
terrible crime, no doubt hoping that this confession
would free him, not only symbolically from the spectre
of his deed, but in a very real way from the spectre of
Blackjack himself which, Lemon was sure, had been with
him from the moment that he’d killed the man.

It would seem that Blackjack’s ghost, not wanting
Lemon to profit from his foul deed, had decided to spoil
his former friend’s plan by appearing as a ghost and
literally, frightening Lemon out of his wits. Throughout
the long night after he’d committed the felony, Lemon
had been terrorized by ghostly moans and the sight of
disembodied glowing eyes leering at him. Blackjack’s
understandably angry spirit tormented the murderer until
the guilty man had gone almost completely insane.

After listening to the confession, the priest decided
that he had to do something to try to calm the
distraught soul of the deceased. Hoping that a proper
burial would put the enraged phantom to rest, the priest
sent a man named John McDougall north to find and bury
Blackjack’s corpse. McDougall was successful and, after
dropping the remains into the hole that he’d dug, the
man decided to pay a small tribute to the deceased by
marking his burial site with a mound of stones.
Unfortunately, despite all this effort, the spirit was
not laid low. When he returned to Montana he was shocked
to learn that Lemon was still being tormented by evil
spirits and, at times, actually seemed possessed by some
supernatural force.

The following spring, Lemon was deemed well enough to
join an expedition to stack a claim in the Highwood
area. The party was not successful, for the closer Lemon
got to the place where he’d killed his friend, the more
insane he became. Eventually the group gave up and
returned to Montana where they immediately made
arrangements to send Lemon to his brother’s ranch in
Texas. There, it is said, the crazed man lived until his
death many years later, never having fully escaped the
ghost of the man whom he’d killed.

Over the next few years there were other attempts to
find the treasure. All ended in disaster-forest fires,
an additional bout of insanity and a strange, sudden and
serious illness. Even the most determined prospectors
began to realize that “Lemon’s Mine”, as the much-fabled
riches had become known, was haunted by a spirit that
would not allow anyone to get near it. To date the Lost
Lemon Mine remains exactly that-lost.

Barbara Smith is the author of Ghost of Alberta and
More Ghost Stories of Alberta, published by Lone Pine
Publishing.